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The Menara Kuala Lumpur is a 1,381 foot tall communications tower built between the competing city centers of the Petronas Towers and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The tower is the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world, used for telecommunications and a draw for tourists, family entertainment, and for those who want to get a birds’ eye view to one of the fastest growing cities in the region.
When the Petronas Towers were topped out in 1996, it became the tallest skyscraper outside of the Western world for the first time in history. The Towers, part of the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) complex, stands out as the center of international Malaysian identity. Once the tallest building in the world, the metallic-clad complex now looms over a gathering of towers up to its shoulder height. Its neighboring skyscrapers validate the promise of the Petronas Towers, that it would declare to the world that Malaysia is open for business and turn the Malaysian capital city into a global hub. While its title as the tallest building in the city is soon to be taken over by the construction of the Warisan Merdeka Tower, I want to look into why the Petronas Towers matter to Malaysia and to the world. While the towers may have taken away the title of the tallest skyscraper in the world from the Western world, the goal was to prove to the world that Malaysia was comparable to the west, or ‘world-class’ in the words of then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
One of the most rewarding aspects of traveling is learning something new about the places you see. In this spirit of adventure, I found myself doing just that last week. I was surprised to see that the city of Perth in Western Australia has many remarkable examples of brutalist architecture. I had never heard of this before, so now I want to have to tell you about it. Among its pristine collection of 20th-century concrete behemoths is the Perth Concert Hall, the subject for this post. The building has been hailed by none other than the author Neil Gaiman himself as being like a great big wedding cake.
The Pearl Bank Apartment was an iconic brutalist residential skyscraper in Singapore. In 1976 it opened to a period of economic prosperity which was improving the quality of life for almost every resident. While it symbolized the epitome of success during its day, it has since lost its novelty. For the last few months, the building has been meticulously demolished without fanfare. In just a few weeks, it will be gone, leaving room to speculate on its legacy.
The Golden Mile Tower is hardly the most popular brutalist darling from Singapore’s 1970s. It’s not even the most popular building with ‘Golden Mile’ in its name! But it is a 295-foot tall commercial center that has remained proudly standing despite the mounting expectation of being sold.
Today, I want to share my photos of the tallest building I’ve ever seen. It’s the second tallest building in the world and a skyscraper that defined the skyline of China’s economic capital. This is the Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China and a beautifully engineered skyscraper.
Canton Tower is a 1,982-foot tall symbol of Guangzhou’s progress and economic achievement. Its unique hyperboloid shape evokes thoughts of futurism and technical achievements. It stands directly across from the new Central Business District of Guangzhou, across the banks of the Pearl River. It was built between 2005 and 2010 at a cost of USD$450 million. Once it was completed, it became the tallest tower in the world for one year and remained the tallest structure in China for five years. Its cultural prominence peaked right after it opened when it served as the focal point for the Asian Games opening ceremony in 2010. It continues to be the focal point of the burgeoning Guangzhou skyline.
I like Doi Pui. Despite being isolated, it is a culturally vibrant rural town with an active population living in a low rise high-density environment with more pedestrians than vehicles. The shops offer a diverse range of products enjoyed by visitors, but also clothes, food, and drinks for the local residents. It is an urbanist town designed for people and built out of low-cost materials. Most importantly, it is economically successful, and a vital connection point with the Hmong community and the rest of the world. In an age of late capitalism and climate change, the urban form of Doi Pui ought to be a source of inspiration for how to design a better suburban district.
